


Butterflies

by Larry_Klaine_Stylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Children, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 08:49:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/708846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson/pseuds/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry is six and Louis is eight, and Louis has ADHD. A lot of kids pick on him, but not Harry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a prompt fill on Tumblr.
> 
> Ugh. I became really attached to this fic, y'all. It's like my baby. I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

Louis Tomlinson was eight years old, and Harry Styles was six. They were both in second grade, however. Louis had been held back a year. It wasn't because he was dumb, though, 'cause he wasn't. His brain just didn't work like the other kid's brains did. At least, that's what his mommy told him. Harry had gotten to skip first grade because he was so smart. Louis thought that was pretty cool. He'd never talked to Harry, though, because he was pretty shy, and Harry was extra smart, so he probably wouldn't like him anyway.

But he liked to look at Harry. He was big for his age. Almost the same size as Louis, and that made Louis giggle sometimes, because Harry was supposed to be smaller. He had super curly brown hair, and sometimes Louis wondered what it would be like to touch it, 'cause it looked pretty soft, and he figured it probably felt nice. He had huge dimples whenever he smiled, which he seemed to do a lot of at school. Louis wished he could smile more at school, but the kids in his class were mean to him, and he didn't have anyone to play with at recess, so it was kind of hard to smile. Harry's eyes were bright green and they sparkled when the sun would shine in the window, and Louis thought it was beautiful.

Louis wondered if maybe he could pay as much attention to his school as he did to Harry Styles if he might get better grades and get to skip ahead to fourth next year where he would belong, but every time he tried, he lost focus. It wasn't that he didn't like learning. He loved it. But his mommy had told him that he had something called ADHD or something like that, and apparently it just made it harder for him to pay attention to stuff. He wasn't sure how true that was, though, 'cause he could pay attention to Harry real easy.

One day at recess he was outside and he saw a few kids playing tag in the field. He really wanted to play, because it looked like they were having so much fun, and he wanted to have fun, too. He didn't want to sit on the swings by himself like he did every single day and watch the other kids play.

"Um, excuse me?" He asked quietly, getting one of the bigger boy's attention. "Could I play with you guys?"

The tall boy looked to one of his friends and then back at Louis. He had a funny smile on his face as he told Louis that sure, he could play with them. Louis said thanks, and they all began to run around the field. The tall boy was it, and he seemed to choose Louis as his target. Louis was running away, laughing happily at finally being included, until the tall boy caught up to him, and instead of tagging him, he pushed him down into the grass, and he hit his knee on a pointy rock.

The boys all started laughing as they quickly left to go find something else to do until recess was over. Louis sat up, looking at his bleeding knee, and then he began to cry. It wasn't because his knee hurt, even though it did, it was because his heart hurt. He had thought he was finally going to make some friends, but he guessed not. Maybe he was just gonna have to be alone forever. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and trying to calm himself down. Crying would just make everyone tease him more. He knew that. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he winced away from the contact.

"Hey." A soft voice said, and he recognized it as Harry's from the many times he'd answered questions and read aloud in class. "Are you okay?"

Louis nodded, opening his eyes and looking at the younger boy. He looked worried.

"Are you sure?" He asked, and Louis nodded again. "Those boys were real mean to ya."

"Mhhm." Louis squeaked out.

"Dunno why." Harry shrugged, sitting down next to Louis. "You seem real nice."

"I am nice." Louis said sadly.

"Then why's everyone so mean to you?" Harry asked softly.

"Because I'm not so smart, and they think that's funny. And I'm not so good at talking to people, so they think I'm weird."

"You're not so dumb, Louis. I think you're pretty smart." Harry smiled. "And you're talking to me okay."

Louis felt a funny little feeling in his tummy that felt kind of like maybe someone had let some birds fly around in there like that fun area at the zoo where you could walk around and see all the birds. It was fluttery, and it made him feel kind of happy and nervous at the same time, and he didn't know what it was, but he was pretty sure it was because of Harry.

"Does your knee hurt?" Harry asked, reaching his hand out like he wanted to touch it but didn't know if he should.

"Yeah." Louis nodded. "A wee bit. Um...You can touch it if you want."

Harry reached out, running his thumb along the small cut and ending up with a bit of smeared blood on his finger.

"Harry, you got my blood on you." Louis said quietly.

"That's okay." Harry said, wiping his thumb on his own trousers. "I got some band-aids on my pocket. Ya want one?"

Louis nodded, and Harry pulled a band-aid out of his pocket, gently placing it on Louis' knee and covering up the injury.

"Thanks." Louis whispered.

"No problem." Harry said. "I'm always getting hurt so mum thinks I should just keep 'em with me."

"You should be more careful." Louis said, not liking the idea of Harry being hurt ever.

Harry simply shrugged, "C'mon. I think recess is over soon. Wanna sit by me in class?"

Louis nodded eagerly, and they both got up, heading back inside.

000

A few weeks later, they were reading aloud, and the teacher called Louis up to the front. He looked at her in horror. It couldn't be his turn already.

Reading in front of the class was Louis' absolute least favorite thing to do ever. Because at least if he was just trying to focus on a test, no one could hear how stupid his brain was. But when he had to read in front of everyone, they could all hear. It wasn't that he couldn't read. He could. He loved to read at home, when he could take his time and work out each word separately. But when he had to read to the class, he had a problem. His mouth would get ahead of his brain sometimes, or his brain would get ahead of his mouth, and he'd skip some words or miss a sentence. And sometimes he'd just get distracted. Like now, because Harry smiled at him. Or maybe sometimes a bird would fly past the window, and he'd want to look. He was trying to read. He really was. But things just kept getting in the way.

The kids all started to laugh. All of them except for Harry. And Louis could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He began to sniffle softly, and his teacher came over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and telling him he could go and sit down.

He took his seat and suddenly felt something hit the back of his head. It was a ball of paper. He was about to start crying, until he saw that it had come from Harry. He wasn't sure what to think, but he knew Harry would never be mean to him, because they were friends now, so he picked the paper up, unfolding it.

It read, "I think you sound real nice when you read, even if you mess up. Your voice is pretty. xHarry"

Louis turned around quickly, meeting eyes with Harry, blue on green, and the younger boy grinned at him.

After reading aloud came lunch, which he ate by himself because some little first grade girl wanted to eat lunch with Harry, and Louis didn't really mind. She was nice, so Harry could spend time with her if he wanted, even if that left Louis alone. After lunch was recess. He was out on the playground, finally having a friend to play with, when one of the big boys from the other day came up to him. They took his glasses right off his face, and everything went blurry. Harry had run off to go down the slide, so he wasn't there to help him.

"Give me those back, Sid!" Louis yelled.

"Nope." Sid taunted. "In fact, I think I'll toss 'em!"

Louis could hear more than see his glasses flying away from him, and he began to cry.

"They don't do you much good anyway. You can't even read."

"It's not my fault." Louis muttered. "Mum says my brain's just-"

"Different from other kid's." Sid finished. "Yeah, we get it. It's just a fancy way to tell you you're stupid."

Harry came skipping over to Louis then, "Lou?"

Louis sniffled.

"Uh oh. Louis, what happened?"

"Sid tossed my glasses and told me I'm stupid." Louis cried, sitting down on the ground, his vision still blurred.

"Hang on!" Harry said, running off and grabbing Louis' glasses and bringing them back to him. "Here."

Louis took the glasses, putting them on, "Thanks."

"You look cuter with them on anyway."

Louis got that fluttery feeling in his stomach again. He'd asked his mum about it the other day and found out that they weren't birds, they were butterflies. She had told him that you got those when you fancied someone a bit, but Louis had told her that was silly, because he didn't fancy anyone. Harry was a boy and Louis was a boy, and boys didn't fancy other boys. That would be silly.

But Harry seemed to fancy him, because Louis was pretty sure you only told people that they were cute and that their voice was pretty if you fancied them. He was confused now.

"Hey, Louis, wanna come to my house after school?" Harry asked. "I asked my mum this morning and she said sure!"

"Oh." Louis was unsure. "You really want me to?"

"We're friends!" Harry said. "Duh!"

"Does that mean yes?" Louis asked.

"'Course it means yes, silly." Harry laughed.

"Okay." Louis nodded. "Sure. I've gotta ask my mommy, though."

"Don't you usually take the bus?" Harry asked, and Louis nodded. "My mum can pick us both up and you can call your mommy on my mum's phone. It's real neat and shiny with buttons on the screen!"

"Okay." Louis agreed.

000

School had just gotten out, and Harry went over to Louis, "Ready to meet my mommy?" He asked.

"Mhhm." Louis nodded.

Harry took his hand then, and the butterflies were back. They felt bigger and happier than usual, like they were flying around twice as fast, and Louis' knees felt kinda wobbly. He followed Harry outside where they stopped in front of a pretty red van.

"Mum!" Harry smiled. "This is Louis."

"Hello, Louis." The woman said. "I'm Harry's mum, but you can call me Anne."

"Hi, Anne." Louis said shyly, looking down at his own feet.

"Harry's told me quite a bit about you. You sound like a lovely young man."

Louis smiled at that.

"Mummy, can Louis use your phone?" Harry asked. "He needs to ask his mum if it's okay to come over."

"Sure, sweetie." Anne dug around in her purse, pulling out a fancy looking phone and handing it to Louis. "Think you can figure out how to work it?"

Louis nodded, taking the device and furrowing his brow together, biting one of his lips in concentration as he pushed the buttons. Harry's eyes were on him, and he was smiling brightly, his dimples coming out, and Louis smiled back.

"Mum?" Louis asked as someone answered the phone.

"Louis?" She asked.

"Mhhm." Louis nodded. "Can I go to my friend Harry's house to play?"

"Let me talk to his mum, yeah?"

"She wants to talk to you." Louis said, handing Anne the phone.

"Hey, Louis!" Harry said excitedly.

"What?"

"You're it!" Harry yelled, tapping him lightly with a finger.

"Hey!" Louis said. "No fair! I didn't know we were playing."

He chased Harry around the sidewalk in front of Anne's car before finally catching him, and then running away as fast as he could.

"Boys!" Anne called, and they both turned. "Louis' allowed to come over for a few hours."

"YES!" Harry yelled, taking Louis by the hand again and pulling him back over to his mum's van.

The car ride wasn't very long, Louis didn't think, and soon they were pulling up in front of Harry's house. They all got out of the car, and Harry took Louis' hand again, dragging him inside.

"C'mon! I want you to see my room!"

Louis let himself be dragged up the steps, and into Harry's room.

"Whoa!" Louis exclaimed.

Harry's room was just about the coolest thing he'd ever seen in his eight years of living. He had dinosaur posters on the wall and a bunch of planets and stars hanging around the ceiling, and also some zoo animal wall paper and a big toy train.

"D'you like it?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Can I live here?!" Louis asked.

Harry giggled, "Sure, but I bet your mummy'd miss you."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Louis sighed.

"But you can come over and play whenever you want." Harry smiled. "As long as my mum says okay."

"Wow." Louis breathed. "Can we play with the train?"

"Mhhm." Harry nodded.

They sat down on the floor, and Harry drove the train around the track while Louis made little sound effects. Every once in a while he'd take a little man and put him on the train, or put a tree in the way so that he and Harry would have to save the day.

After a while, though, he began to get fidgety. His mum always told him it was part of the way his brain worked. Sometimes he just needed to move around and get some energy out. He didn't want to ruin his game with Harry, though, so he tried to stay still. He was twitching a little, but he tried to ignore it.

"Louis?" Harry asked, and Louis looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

Louis nodded.

"You're kind of twitchy, though." Harry said. "Do you need to go potty?"

"No!" Louis said indignantly. "I just...Can we maybe get up and move around? Sometimes...Sometimes I just have to."

"Sure." Harry said, getting up. "Wanna dance?"

Louis shrugged, "I guess so."

Harry went and turned on a bit of music on a little radio he had set up on his desk and then came back over to Louis, jumping all around him. Louis began to jump around as well, and then Harry took both of his hands, and they were jumping and dancing together. And the butterflies were back, and he started to think that maybe his mum was right about getting them when you fancy someone. But what did it mean if he fancied Harry? That was silly, wasn't it? Boys fancy girls.

"So, how come you gotta move around?" Harry asked, continuing to jump around, Louis' hands held firmly in his grasp.

"Mum says it's the same reason why I'm not so smart. My brain's just funny, you know?"

"I still think you're pretty smart." Harry smiled at him.

And then Louis was pretty sure that he did fancy Harry, because he had pretty green eyes and curly brown hair and dimples that made him happy, and his brain was funny already, so would it really be so silly for him to fancy Harry?

They continued to dance around, both laughing until they were tired, and then they flopped down on the floor giggling.

"Louis?" Anne popped her head into the room. "Your mum wants you home for dinner, love."

Louis and Harry both sighed, but they got up, and Harry went with them to take Louis home.

000

That night after dinner, Louis took a bath, and then his mum came to tuck him in to bed.

"Mum?" Louis asked, as she pulled the blankets up over him.

"Yes, darling?"

"D'you think...D'you think that boys can fancy other boys?" He asked.

"Is this about the butterflies in your tummy?" She asked, and he nodded. "Yes, sweetie, some boys do fancy other boys."

"Okay." Louis nodded.

"So, who's putting the butterflies in your tummy, baby?" His mum asked.

"Harry." Louis sighed before yawning.

His mum smiled at him, and she looked really happy for some reason.

"Mum?"

"Mhhm?"

"Do I fancy Harry because of my ADHD?"

"No, sweetie. That's got nothing to do with it. Some boys just fancy other boys, and that's okay. Just keep in mind that Harry might not fancy you, alright? Because some boys just can't fancy other boys. That doesn't make it bad, but some boys just can't, okay?"

Louis felt confused and sleepy, so he just nodded, "Okay, mum."

"I love you." She said, kissing him on the forehead.

"I love you, too, mum."

000

The next day was Saturday, and Louis decided that he didn't want to wait until school to see Harry. He was eating breakfast and looked up at his mother.

"Mum? Can Harry come over today?"

"Let me finish eating and I'll call his mum, yeah?"

Louis nodded, his feet swinging under the table in anticipation. It felt like it took his mum ages to finish her oatmeal. Finally she got up and went to the phone, calling Harry's mommy.

"She said we can come get Harry right now if you like." She said. "They've got plans for dinner later, but he can play for a while."

Louis nodded his head quickly, "Let's go! Let's go!"

Jay chuckled, grabbing her keys as Louis rushed out the door. He hopped into the back seat before Jay had even finished locking the house up, and then finally she was getting into the driver's seat. Louis didn't know how his mum knew where Harry's house was. Sometimes he thought that maybe she was magic. She knew where everything was ever, and Louis didn't know how she did it.

They got to Harry's house and Harry came running outside, his mum calling goodbye after him, and then he was climbing into the car next to Louis.

"Louis! I missed you!"

Louis thought maybe it was silly, because they'd just seen each other yesterday, but he missed Harry, too, "I missed you, too, Harry."

They drove back to Louis' and when they got there, Louis found himself quite nervous to show Harry his room, because compared to Harry's, it was boring. He took him upstairs and into his room, which had dark blue walls, and a blue and green comforter on the bed. He had a poster of a horse and another poster that came from the movie Toy Story and one from the movie Charlotte's Web, which was his favorite.

Harry sat down on Louis' bed, bouncing it slightly, "Charlotte's Web!" He said. "I love that book."

"I only ever saw the movie." Louis shrugged.

"Someday maybe I can read the book to you." Harry smiled. "My mum read it to me."

"I'd like that." Louis nodded, sitting down next to Harry.

"Louis?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you mind if I rest my head on your shoulder?" He asked. "I'm kind of sleepy."

"It's not even nighttime, though." Louis laughed, wondering how anyone could be tired mid-morning. "Go ahead, silly."

Harry leaned over, resting his head on Louis' shoulder, and his curls sort of tickled Louis' neck. He moved one of his hands up to pet Harry's hair, because he'd always wanted to, and he felt like he could now. His curls were just as soft as Louis hand imagined them, and Harry let out a happy little snuffling sound, and Louis thought he was just about the cutest thing to ever walk on the planet, and that probably there weren't very many cute aliens, so it was probably true to say that he was the cutest thing to ever exist ever.

He felt the butterflies swarming around in his tummy again, and they were flapping so much that it made him feel a little sick and dizzy and kind of like he was going to explode, and he decided that he had to tell Harry how he made him feel or else the butterflies might try to fly right out of him.

"Harry?"

"Yeah, Louis?"

"D'you...D'you ever have butterflies in your tummy?"

Harry lifted his head off Louis' shoulder, looking at him and nodding.

"Y'know, my mum says that butterflies mean you fancy someone."

"Oh." Harry said, his green eyes shining bright.

"And she also told me that sometimes boys fancy other boys, and that that's an okay thing to do, and it doesn't mean that your brain's funny, it just means that you fancy boys, y'know? Even if most boys fancy girls, it doesn't make you strange if you fancy boys and you shouldn't feel bad about it." Louis nodded, almost as if he was reassuring himself.

"Oh." Harry said again.

"She also said that sometimes when you fancy boys, they can't fancy you back, and that's okay, too."

"Oh." Harry said, sounding a little sad, and some of the light leaving his eyes, and Louis wondered what he'd said to make that happen, because he wanted to fix it.

"But anyway." Louis said. "Sometimes, like right now, I get these butterflies in my tummy, Harry. And they're because I fancy you, I suppose. And right now the butterflies wanted me to tell you that, I think, because they felt kind of mad, and so now you know. But it's okay if you don't fancy me, because mum said it's okay, so it must be."

Harry leaned in, kissing Louis on the cheek, which caused Louis to blush just a little bit, and when he looked at Harry, he was blushing, too.

"I've got butterflies now, too." Harry smiled. "You give me lots of butterflies, Louis. And mine feel happy right now, and I think maybe it's because your butterflies are here, too, and maybe they're playing with each other."

"Does that mean you fancy me?" Louis asked, a little nervous.

Harry nodded, "You can kiss my cheek if you want. 'Cause I kissed yours and I think my butterflies are jealous 'cause you got a kiss and I didn't."

"Oh." Louis said, leaning over and lightly pressing his lips to Harry's soft cheek. "Your cheeks are soft." He told him.

"So are yours." Harry smiled.

"Really?"

"Mhhm." Harry nodded.

"Y'know what's softer than your cheek?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"Your hair." Louis smiled. "I like to touch it. It feels nice."

"I think my butterflies like it when you touch my hair, too." Harry smiled.

And so Louis reached out a hand to gently play with Harry's hair, and Harry smiled at him, and Louis thought that he was really glad they both had butterflies for each other.


End file.
